


Sleepless Nights

by spACEtoast



Category: Here Be Dragons - Fandom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-05-29 16:35:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15077279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spACEtoast/pseuds/spACEtoast
Summary: Just a sleepless night for the crew of the Rusalka.





	Sleepless Nights

Harper groaned flipping on the bedside lamp and giving her attempt to fall back asleep to the wind. It was a little after 2 am according to the clo- no, chronometer as Atlas corrected Pip on their third day when the engineer mentioned that the clocks were "interesting and so very shiny," the doctor also cryptically mentioning that they were a new addition to Rusalka (of all the things to be new on this ship). According to Harper's internal clock it was too damn early but perhaps a cup of tea would help.

Harper went through her mental checklist and putting on of everything Scarlett "strongly suggested" wearing when traveling through The Rusalka, particularly at night when it wasn't necessary to heat the halls as much as they did during the day- not that it was particularly balmy even when everything was heated.

Harper had learned the hard way just how cold it got under the sea with no heat on a night quite similar to this one. It was definitely cold enough that night that Harper was convinced Atlas would have had to amputate her toes had Scarlett not found her wandering the halls when she did, of course both Atlas and Scarlett merely rolled their eyes saying it was no where near cold enough for something so drastic. They both swore it was just the shock of getting lost at night coupled with not wearing enough layers- in short it was just Harper being dramatic, but she knew what she felt and it was definitely Eiffel blowing a hole in the hull of the Hephestus level of cold and Harper was Minkowski.

Another quick double check of the list and Harper was ready to make the trek to the kitchen; cutting off the lamp Harper zombie walked towards her door. It was never truly dark anywhere on the Rusalka as small lights constantly bathed each room in a soft red glow giving the Rusalka a darkroom effect but there was still that distressing period of adjusting to the light level change that left everything blurry and running in to things face first was a very real threat.

* * *

Even through a decent amount of layers the halls of the Rusalka were freezing cold as Harper made her way as quick as she could. On approaching the galley it was clear Harper wasn't the only one restless at 2 am, a yellow glow spilled into the hallway from where the door was cracked and a faint murmuring could be heard coming from the room. Harper stood outside the biting her lip debating if she should go in or just go back to her quarters, even from just outside the door Harper couldn't tell who exactly was talking. Harper mentally shook herself, she was being ridiculous who ever was in there they were just her crew mates... unless of course some monster got into the ship. Or if one had always been there and just not shown itself, what happened to her and Pip their first day still plagued her thoughts on occasion. Ridding herself of these thoughts Harper pushed open the door to the kitchen and stepped in.

"Harper! Hi! Couldn't sleep?" Pippa beamed from where she sat at the table- at least Harper assumed the engineer was sitting at the table as the blurry shape her voice had emanated from was lower that normal. Harper squinted against the harsh light blinking rapidly in an attempt to reduce how fuzzy everything got. As her vision cleared Harper could see that all three of her crewmates were sitting in the galley at a table near the door to the kitchen.

"Of course not Pippa, Harper is clearly sleepwalking, best not to disturb her." Dr. Atlas interjected before Harper could answer Pip.

"Well at least sleepwalking Harper knows how to put on layers." Commander Scarlett quipped causing Atlas to smirk.

"Oh, ha ha very funny, Commander." Harper deadpanned. "Yeah, Pip, I couldn't sleep. I figured making some tea would help- I don't know help me sleep for a few more hours."

"There is water in the kettle," Atlas pointed towards the kitchen. " I just made myself a cup- it should still be fairly hot."

"Oh, okay thanks." Harper nodded and made her way to the kitchen and making herself a cup of tea. She settled for a simple chamomile tea bag, Harper wasn't a snob when it came to loose vs bagged tea but she liked the aesthetic of making a pot of tea with loose tea leaves. Finishing her cup of tea Harper went back into the galley and sat down between Pip and Scarlett at the little round table. "So what were you guys talking about before I got here?"

"Oh, well I couldn't get back to sleep after this crazy dream I had so I came down here to get a snack because- well I was hungry and who doesn't love a midnight snack? Well, anyways..." Pippa began speaking rapidly about her dream.

* * *

"The shocked talent agent asks what the act is called, and their answer is: "The Aristocrats!""

"Wait, I don't get it? What was funny about that?" Pippa furrowed her brows in confusion, taking pity on her Harper jumped in and explained.

"It's not really supposed to be funny- at least not in a 'ha-ha' sense. The punchline is just saying that only the Aristocracy could do the things described in the act. Honestly it's more of an improve exercise than anything."

"Well I can tell you that was one of the more inventive versions of that joke I've ever heard."

"Only one of? Well now Commander, now I'm interested in what other versions of the joke you've heard- care to enlighten us?" Atlas folded her hands under her chin and leaned forward eyebrows raised.

"Yeah, maybe some other time. You know, when the children aren't present."

"Hey!" Harper exclaimed indignantly in unison with Pip's "That's not fair."

"Yeah, well them's the rules."

* * *

"- and that has to be one the most surrealist moments of my life." Scarlett finished her story to varying looks of astonishment.

"Wow Commander that was... wow-" Pippa managed at last causing Scarlett the chuckle.

"Yeah, it was pretty intense, but hey that's life what can you do?"

"Commander, if you had said that before I would have seriously considered the idea that you had been body snatched but after that story..." Harper shook her head, that was one story she was never going to forget.

"Hey, not everything has to go as planned all- well okay it does have to go as planned but the realist knows that there is no way everything will always go right no matter how much you plan. Sometimes, very rarely, you just gotta learn to roll with the punches and adapt."

* * *

 "So Harper, you never did tell us why you were up so late... well, early." Pip said from her spot on the floor, where she had been laying for the last few minutes, her legs draped on the seat- Scarlett and Atlas had given up telling the engineer to sit properly.

"Why I- oh, I just couldn't sleep is all. Well I couldn't go back to sleep, I want to say I woke up around 130-ish and I couldn’t fall back to sleep so I gave up.“ Harper shrugged “It really isn’t all that special of a story, it just happens sometimes.”

“Huh, that’s weird that’s about the time my dream woke me up.“ Pip said propping herself up on her elbows to look at Harper better.

“Wow really? What a coincidence.“

“Yes, a coincidence…“ Atlas muttered seemingly lost in thought before she looked up at Scarlet and spoke more clearly “Commander, that was around the time you mentioned the static noise inside your quarters woke you when you came to my lab.“

“Yeah it was, I thought maybe the intercom was broken again and you were trying to use it to contact me. Why, what are you getting at Doctor?" Scarlett eyed Atlas suspiciously.

“Well I can’t say with absolute certainty, not without further evidence– and I wouldn’t have even thought of it had They not come up in my reading earlier, just before you came to my lab- but it sounds like we may have a Selkieg on the ship."

**Author's Note:**

> Don't even bother trying to look up what a Selkieg is because I 100% made them up. All will be reveled in time (aka when ever I can get my procrastinating butt to write the next chapter)


End file.
